Red Bulls 3, Crew 1: Henry scores twice to overwhelm Crew

Sunday

Sep 16, 2012 at 12:01 AMSep 16, 2012 at 9:56 AM

HARRISON, N.J. - The Crew's undefeated run is beginning to look like a distant memory. Even with an early lead on the road, the Crew could do little to hold back Thierry Henry and the New York Red Bulls, who took a decisive 3-1 victory last night.

HARRISON, N.J. — The Crew’s undefeated run is beginning to look like a distant memory.

Even with an early lead on the road, the Crew could do little to hold back Thierry Henry and the New York Red Bulls, who took a decisive 3-1 victory last night.

The loss, combined with a D.C. United victory, puts the Crew two points out of the Eastern Conference playoff race. To make matters worse, the status of starting goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum might also be in question after he collided headfirst with the post on the Red Bulls’ third goal, prompting the Crew to make a substitution in the 85th minute.

Columbus has lost two straight after four straight victories. It came out strong from the start against the Red Bulls, despite being without star striker Federico Higuain (bruised foot). Striker Jairo Arrieta broke down the left side of Red Bulls’ defense early, finding Milovan Mirosevic in the box for a goal in the third minute.“It was a good wide play between us (Jairo Arrieta),” Mirosevic said, “a one-two and then I ran into the box. Fortunately, he saw me and I just put my foot on it.”

The lead was short-lived. Six minutes later, Rafa Marquez, who was starting for the first time since July, sent a pass to the feet of Henry, beating Chad Marshall in the box and slotting his attempt past Gruenebaum to tie the score.“That ball was kind of perfect,” Crew midfielder Tony Tchani said. “(Chad Marshall) is like 6-4, but he couldn’t reach it. Henry took a good touch to finish it.”

Despite the tying goal, the Crew continued to be proactive on offense. In the 15th minute, Dilly Duka broke open on the right side and sent a cross into the box that found Mirosevic, but his diving header went just wide of the net.

However, much like the first time these teams played on April 7, a 4-1 Red Bulls victory, the Red Bulls made the most of their opportunities. A precision long-ball game built around an onrushing Henry put the Crew’s high defensive line to the test.

“We knew they were going to try to catch us off-guard with long balls, so we were trying to be alert and see everything,” Tchani said. “We kind of sat (back) a little bit and let them try to play out of the back, but Rafa Marquez, he is the kind of guy that can play long ball. We just got caught off-guard.”

The Crew made adjustments in the second half, dropping Tchani back to offer support for their backline, but it did little to protect against the Henry-led offense. Henry, the Red Bulls’ captain, helped to put New York ahead in the 79th minute with a picture-perfect cross that Dax McCarty did well to convert.

With nine minutes added to the match, the Crew was muted by a spectacular goal delivered by Henry, who bookended a superb performance that even left the Crew searching for words.

“New York has a special player in Thierry Henry,” Crew coach Robert Warzycha said. “He had two goals and an assist. Obviously, that third goal was something that he saw and tried to do.”

“I was quiet,” Tchani said. “I couldn’t even be mad because what can you say about that goal? You can’t even get mad. You just have to give him credit.”

“To score the first goal away from home is always important,” Warzycha said. “I think we gave up the tying goal too easily. Second half, I thought the game got a little better. We had some success possessing the ball. Just giving up that goal on a set piece was backbreaking.”

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